


rise like a reckoning

by amandamonroe



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, BAMF Women, F/F, F/M, Gen, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Multi, Swearing, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:34:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21759154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amandamonroe/pseuds/amandamonroe
Summary: or, the working title of this was "Lorena Flynn Has a Chance"Ex-CIA agent Lorena Flynn is back. She's got her daughter, her husband, and the woman who saved their lives years ago. She's taking command of the bunker and taking Rittenhouse down.
Relationships: Garcia Flynn & Iris Flynn, Garcia Flynn & Iris Flynn & Lorena Flynn, Garcia Flynn & Lorena Flynn, Garcia Flynn & Lucy Preston, Garcia Flynn/Lorena Flynn, Garcia Flynn/Lorena Flynn/Lucy Preston, Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston, Iris Flynn & Lorena Flynn, Iris Flynn & Lucy Preston, Lorena Flynn & Lucy Preston, Lorena Flynn/Lucy Preston
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	rise like a reckoning

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Halestorm's song "The Reckoning"  
> I've been wanting to write a Lucy/Flynn/Lorena fic for a while now, but haven't been having a whole lot of inspiration when it comes to Timeless. The ending of this might be a bit abrupt, as I did my best to wrap it up enough to post. This was going to be a much, much longer fic but alas. I figured some is better than none, right? Maybe I'll come back and add more one day. My headcanon is that Lorena, Lucy, and Flynn are all on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrums. This takes place after the famous “morning after” scene in 2.07. All errors grammatical and otherwise are mine. The line spacing starts off as single and then goes to double between paragraphs, hopefullly that doesn't cause any trouble while reading!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of any recognizable content. I do not make any money from this. This is purely for fun.

2014

It was instinct that woke Lorena Flynn up from a sound sleep at 2 in the morning. For a moment, she didn’t move, until she heard it again: Iris was coughing.

  
Her husband stirred at her side and she leaned over to him. “Shh, go back to sleep. I heard Iris coughing.” He hummed into his pillow as she slipped from the bed and padded down the hall.

  
“Iris? Are you okay?”

  
As Lorena crept over the threshold into her daughter’s bedroom, she couldn’t help but smile. By the nightlight’s soft glow, Iris was fast asleep, head and face smushed into her teddy bear. No wonder she’d been coughing- she was practically inhaling the stuffed animal’s fake fur.

  
Lorena carefully readjusted the girl and turned to leave the room before she woke her.

  
As she was about to take a step towards the door, she froze. Something felt… off. It was the same feeling she got when someone was following her. It was a faint displacement of air and incoming movement. It was the sense that something was wrong.

At the first soft creak, Lorena thought she had imagined it. After all, she had been feeling a bit paranoid since leaving the CIA, and it was the middle of the night. But the second creak confirmed it.

There was someone in her house.

Lorena ran forward to slam Iris’s bedroom door closed, screaming for Garcia, just as they appeared.

Masked men. At least three. With guns. And silencers. In her house.

_In her child’s bedroom._

Lorena didn’t take the time to fear being shot- she just reacted.

With a wordless scream of both fury and terror, she dove past the bullet and at the first man.

What Lorena didn’t know yet, was that she was supposed to be dead already. The first man wasn’t the original team leader. That man had never been born, due to a knife thrown by her husband over three hundred years earlier. It was the smallest of actions, in the grand scheme of the universe, but it forever changed a family line. That family would have no descendants who would grow up to join a cult-like group named Rittenhouse. Instead, years later, a different family’s descendant was made team leader. This man was three inches shorter than the man he replaced. Therefore, his stride was different. In this timeline, he stepped on a wooden board that creaked at the top of the stairs. This time, he didn’t shoot an unarmed woman in the head.

  
This time, Lorena Flynn got the chance to fight back.

  
2018

  
“Mom, are you sure this is right?”

  
Lorena bit back a laugh at her daughter’s question. “Yes, I’m sure.” She understood her daughter’s confusion- they were wandering through a lightly wooded area in the middle of California, looking for what amounted to a metal-reinforced hole in the ground. After spending the last four years hiding in a convent in Sao Paulo, sneaking back into the United States to finally meet up with Garcia had been fun. For her, at least.

  
So far, Iris wasn’t appreciating the finer points of spycraft.

  
“Why can’t Dad just meet us up here?”

  
Lorena couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s tone. She was growing more stubborn and opinionated by the day- and Lorena couldn’t be prouder. When she thought back to that night, to what almost happened…

  
With a quick shake of her head, Lorena put it out of her mind. “Well Iris, remember how I told you that Dad and his friends were hiding from the bad guys? That means their… house has to be hidden too.”

  
“It’s not _that_ good of a hiding place. How are they going to grow any flowers? Sister Mary Eleanor always said…” And with that, she was off. The nuns had been quick to care for Lorena and Iris when they had went (metaphorically) underground four years ago. One of them, Sister Mary Eleanor, had tended to the gardens and been absolutely tickled when she learned that Iris was named after a national flower. From that moment on, one of Iris’s tasks had been to help with the gardening. Lorena was forever grateful to those kind women. They’d helped her care for her daughter and done their best to help her heal as well. When Lorena got word from Cia that it was safe for them to finally, finally join him, the nuns had sent her and Iris on their way with hugs and a prayer.

  
Just as Lorena was starting to think that the directions Garcia had sent her were out of date, she spotted a dull grey box sticking up out of some bushes.

  
“Hey Iris!” She called over her shoulder. The girl darted back to her mother’s side, several leaves tangled in her long hair and an innocent expression on her face. When Lorena pointed out the hatch in the ground, Iris’s face lit up.

  
“You found it?” She squeaked and clapped her hands together. “Can we go see Dad now?”

  
“Yeah baby,” Lorena responded, leaning over the hatch to enter in the code Cia had sent. “Let’s go see your dad.”

* * *

  
Lucy was nervous.

This wasn’t an unusual feeling for her of late, but it also wasn’t usually so… positive? If she didn’t know better, Lucy would say she was excited.

As she changed clothes in her and Jiya’s room, Lucy tried to sort out her rapidly changing interpersonal relationships. Because really, this was getting cliché.

In high school, she’d always laughed at the human drama around her, too focused on her studies to have time for her own. When she went off to college, she had been in several relationships, sure. There had been boys and girls she had dated, but those relationships were casual and fun. They’d had sex and explored, but sometimes, the other person wanted more. While Lucy understood that, it also confused her. She wasn’t looking for someone to spend the rest of her life with- it was college!

She had thought that maybe, she had wanted more with Wyatt. But after that night in Hollywood, things had gotten so complicated. Come to think of it, that night had made an already complicated situation worse. At times, she was more stressed about her relationship with Wyatt than she was about time traveling. _He’s not the one you’re in a relationship with_ , a tiny voice whispered in the back of her mind. _He’s not the one you’ve been spending most of your free time with._

It was true- she and Flynn had been getting closer lately. A whole lot closer, if she was being honest with herself. There were the big things, like him saving her life on missions, but they were getting closer in smaller ways as well. She knew what his favorite genre of novel was and he knew how she took her coffee, as evidenced by this morning. They were little details that made up a person’s life, details that she hadn’t even realized she knew about him.

With a sigh, Lucy ran her fingers through her hair and called herself ready for the day.

As she left the room and headed down the hall to what passed for the bunker’s kitchen, she saw Wyatt step out of the bathroom and into his and Jessica’s room. Must be the boys’ allotted shower time.

Lucy was still vaguely hungover, but the coffee Flynn brought her had helped. Shit. She’d left her mug on Jiya’s nightstand. Groaning softly, she wandered back towards the bedroom.

* * *

_Almost there, almost… there…_

With a bit off curse, Lorena made it to the bottom of the ladder. Climbing down metal rungs while carrying a full backpack in the semi-dark would be difficult at the best of times, but in Lorena’s case, it was really damn painful.

Once her breathing was back to normal, Lorena guided Iris down. She needn’t have bothered, as the little girl could climb like a monkey. When Lorena was her daughter’s age, she was like that too. Now, she was just grateful if she could jog up or down a flight of stairs without her leg giving out on her.

The past couple of weeks since Cia had contacted her had been busy, and she hadn’t had much time to rest. The injuries to her leg were four years old, but lots of walking- especially through the outdoors- and now climbing down a ladder had done the old wounds no favors.

“Mom? You okay?” Iris whispered.

“Yeah baby, just not as young as I used to be,” Lorena murmured back. “Stick close to me, alright?”

Iris nodded, eyes wide and followed her mother down the hallway.

With Iris safely at her back, Lorena carefully drew her gun. This was the place Cia told them to meet him, but anything could have happened in the last two weeks. While Lorena was beyond ready to reunite with her husband, she would not risk her daughter’s life by being careless.

As Lorena and Iris made their way down a hallway, a door in front of them opened. Lorena was just about to raise her gun and usher Iris to the side when she recognized the figure toweling off his hair.

Garcia.

The surge of emotion Lorena felt at that familiar and missed sight almost sent her staggering. As it was, she re-holstered her gun and was about to call out to him when Iris beat her to it.

“Daddy!” Iris took off towards her father. Part of Lorena wanted to be upset with her daughter for not listening to her and staying close, but she understood her daughter’s glee. It had been a long four years, after all.

Iris collided with her father and clung to his midsection in a tight hug. As she approached, Lorena expected to see Garcia respond, hug her back, say something. He wasn’t doing any of that.

He wasn’t moving at all.

“Cia, what’s wrong?” Lorena asked. Was the bunker not safe anymore? But if it had been compromised, Garcia wouldn’t have been calmly taking a shower.

He looked up from staring down at Iris and met Lorena’s eyes. _“How?”_

Lorena’s eyes widened at the choked question. “What do you mean _how_? You’re the one who contacted me!” Had it been a trap? Had Rittenhouse set her up? But if they had, why would they keep Garcia alive, if they knew where he was? When he sent the location of the bunker, he’d included their safety codes- codes Lorena knew he wouldn’t give up, even under torture.

“I… I did?” And oh, the hope in Garcia’s voice… It was as if he was begging her for something. In that moment, Lorena realized that somewhere along the timeline, something had gone terribly wrong. Lorena reached out and grabbed his arm, squeezing it tight. His eyes closed in something that looked like relief.

Just as Lorena was about to join the hug, there was a crash from behind her. Bracing herself on her right leg, she spun around and pulled her gun. Only to be met with another familiar figure.

_“Lucy?”_

* * *

_This can’t be happening again. No way, no how. Another widower, another night, another wife. _Nope, not happening, you’re still just super hungover._ _

Despite her best efforts, Lucy was quick to realize that she was not, in fact, hallucinating. The sight before her was all too real.

Garcia Flynn’s wife was alive.

Lucy had been so shocked to see Flynn standing there with a hand on a young girl’s head and tears in his eyes that she had dropped her coffee mug. The sound it made when it hit the floor seemed to echo through the bunker and her brain.

The woman with Flynn- Lorena, she remembered reading in his file, Flynn’s daughter’s name was Iris and his wife’s name was Lorena, - was quick to draw a gun on her. Not that Lucy blamed her- the woman’s daughter was right there, Flynn looked shell-shocked and well, Rittenhouse was still a thing. But before Lucy could throw her hands up in the air and declare herself a friend (and wasn’t that a strange thought, the idea of being friends with Flynn’s wife) Lorena…

_Recognized_ her?

_“Lucy?”_ The smile that spread across Lorena’s face as she put her gun away and stepped forward could only be described as radiant. “You’re okay!”

Suddenly Lucy found herself being pulled into a tight hug. _Well this is… different?_ Lucy hadn’t expected the warm welcome, to say the least. But then again, maybe Lorena wouldn’t be so receptive when she found out what Lucy had been thinking about her husband as of late. Well, the obnoxious voice in her head chirped, _at least you didn’t fuck this one!_ Speaking of which…

Flynn had knelt down and was speaking softly with his daughter, running his fingers through her long brown hair. He had one eye on her, and the other on the embracing women in front of him. Lucy wasn’t sure what to make of his expression.

With an awkward pat to the canvas bag on her back, Lucy carefully extracted herself from Lorena’s embrace. Might as well get this over with. “Um, hi? I don’t think we’ve met?”

Lorena laughed, delighted. “We haven’t, but I met a version of you a few years back. In Sao Paolo. Cia’s told you about the journal you gave us, right?” She looked over her shoulder at Flynn.

Cautiously, he came over, Iris leading the way. The girl stepped around her mother and looked up at Lucy. For a moment, Lucy was taken aback. The little girl was gorgeous, a perfect combination of her parents. And she was _alive_. Lucy felt hate bubble deep inside. In a different timeline, Rittenhouse had murdered this little girl for no real reason.

“Lucy!” Iris exclaimed, with a smile that rivaled her mother’s. Vaguely panicked, Lucy looked to Flynn for advice. He was looking between her and Lorena and Iris, and if Lucy didn’t know better, she would think that he was about to pass out.

For the second time, the Flynn family reunion was interrupted by the sound of Wyatt and Jessica’s door opening. This time, when Lorena drew her gun, she wasn’t so quick to lower it.

* * *

Lorena was simply acting on instinct. It was the same instinct that had saved her life when she was undercover, the same instinct that saved her family that night. And her family was here, with her, right now. She had gotten a little distracted, but never let it be said that Lorena Caitlin Flynn had lost her edge. In three seconds flat, she had placed herself between Garcia and Iris, with her gun aimed.

“Whoa! Who the hell are you?!” The man yelled, and then… charged her?

_Are you fucking kidding me._

The ensuing brawl was short and embarrassing. For the man who came at her, at least. He ended up with his face mashed against the concrete floor, gun to the back of his head, with one of Lorena’s boots pinning a wrist while the other arm stuck out at his side. Lorena had restrained herself from dislocating his shoulder when she heard Lucy yelling.

“Lorena, it’s fine. That’s just Wyatt, he’s… not a threat.” Garcia’s voice cracked on her name.

“Sounds like there’s a bit of a story there.” Lorena remembered Wyatt from the journal. Soldier, obsessed with his wife’s death, brash, massive crush on Lucy. Easing away from Wyatt, she holstered her gun. “Let’s try this again, shall we? I’m Lorena Flynn.”

Wyatt scrambled to his feet and made for Lucy. “What’s going on? How did she get in here?” He placed a proprietary hand on Lucy’s shoulder and moved to block her from view. “Are you okay?”

Garcia huffed and rolled his eyes before making his way over to where Iris was standing. During the scuffle, she had stepped out of the way but not wandered off, just like Lorena had taught her. She wanted to protect her daughter from danger, but at the same time was afraid of being separated from her. It had taken her over a year to be comfortable with Iris being out of her life of sight, let alone in a different room of the convent. Seeing her husband and daughter interact settled something deep inside Lorena. She had missed Garcia so damn much, and she knew he felt the same.

“-just don’t!” Lucy’s raised voice caught Lorena’s attention.

The other woman had stepped away from Wyatt, an irritated look on her face. The solider was scowling and kept glaring at Garcia in a way that Lorena didn’t like. She made a mental note to find out what went down between the two of them sooner rather than later. Following Wyatt’s gaze, Lucy watched Garcia and Iris for a moment before dodging Wyatt’s reaching hand and stepping closer to Lorena. She was about to apologize to her on Wyatt’s behalf when Denise arrived.

* * *

Once Garcia Flynn had gotten over the initial shock of seeing his wife and daughter alive and standing in front of him, nothing else had seemed important. For a few seconds, he had been sure that he was trapped in a dream again, but no- Iris was so obviously older, and Lorena had never had her hair in a crew cut before. He had so wanted to embrace Lorena, but everything had happened so fast. Lucy had appeared and it had only taken Flynn a moment to put together what must have happened, based on Lorena’s reaction to her. Somehow, he had escaped with Lorena and Iris, the three of them running to Sao Paolo, where a future version of Lucy found them. At that point, Wyatt had barged in, and what a joy it was to see Lorena put him in his place! Lucy had looked worried but knew better than to step between to fighters- especially when there was a gun involved. Flynn had been quick to check on Iris, but she had simply stepped out of the way. He had expected his little girl to be frightened, but she looked calm.

After assuring Lorena that she could let Wyatt up- and if Lucy and Iris hadn’t been watching, Flynn would have happily taken a turn handing Wyatt’s ass to him- he had went back to Iris. He just listened has she told him how much she had missed him, and how she had been so excited when Mom said it was safe to come back to the States and find him. He was so involved with listening to her that he missed Lucy and Wyatt’s argument.

What he didn’t miss was Denise Christopher up and demanding that everyone head to the kitchen for a “team meeting”.  
A few minutes later, all of the bunker residents were gathered in the kitchen. It was just as awkward as Flynn had thought it would be.  
Wyatt was sulking next to Jessica. Rufus, Mason, and Jiya were staring at the newly arrived Flynns with interest- _Scientists_ , Flynn thought. Always interested in the “how” of the situation- but without malice. And Lucy was nervously fiddling with her necklace but had stayed rather close to him.

“Alright,” Denise’s voice rang out loud and clear, demanding everyone’s attention. “Flynn, why don’t you explain this to me?”

Flynn couldn’t help but bristle as she referred to his family’s resurrection as “this”. From the way Lorena shifted on the other side of Iris, she didn’t appreciate it either.

“My husband sent me word that he had been released from a supermax prison and was now hiding in safety with his team. So, my daughter and I decided to come join him.” Flynn was wrong. Lorena didn’t just not appreciate Denise’s question- she was angry with it.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. How could he have sent you word? Weren’t you, you know… dead?” Rufus asked.

“You’re supposed to be dead?” Jessica exclaimed.

“Well, if you’re who I think you are, so are you!” Lorena countered.

“What is this, the dead wives club?” Rufus mumbled, and next to him, Jiya poorly concealed her laughter with a cough.

“Lorena and Iris Flynn went missing and were presumed dead four years ago. Their bodies were never found.” At Denise’s summarization, Flynn winced and glanced down at Iris. Just because she had been involved didn’t mean that he wanted her to be hearing about… the situation in such an indelicate way.

Neither did Lorena. “Hey!” She snapped and approached Christopher. “My daughter is _right here_.” Lorena eyed Denise, and Flynn smiled despite the situation. His wife was back and that alone was enough to assure him that everything was going to be okay. Lorena had always been an alpha female so to speak, and watching her go up against Denise was just… satisfying.

“And anyway,” Lorena continued “why are you in charge? Shouldn’t Lucy be calling the shots?”

* * *

Up until she heard her name. Lucy had been doing her best to become invisible. Considering everyone was now staring at her, that hadn’t panned out. The eyes that she felt the most were Flynn’s. He was still standing right next to her and had been watching Lorena with pride. With a pang, Lucy realized that she wanted him to look at her like that too.

Denise drew herself up and responded, irritation coloring her tone. “My position within the Department of Homeland Security is such that-”

In a brave move, Lorena cut her off: “Yes, I’m aware of what your position is. Are you aware of how lacking your security measures are? Be glad that Cia knows how to send a secure communique, otherwise anyone could have gotten access to this bunker.”

For a moment, Lucy wasn’t sure who Lorena was talking about. Then it dawned on her. “Cia” was short for “Garcia”. It suited the man next to her, standing next to his daughter with a small smile on his face.

As Denise and Lorena got into it over security measures and clearance codes, the other members of the bunker slowly started to disperse, lest they face Denise’s ire as well. Lorena was holding her own quite well, Lucy saw.

A tug on her hand made her look down. Iris had slipped between Lucy and Flynn and was staring up at her. “I remember you,” she said softly.

“What do you mean, sweetheart?” Lucy asked. She thought she should crouch down, then remembered that Iris was probably about nine or ten years old now. At that age, Lucy remembered adults talking down to her all the time, and she had hated it.

“When the bad guys showed up, Mom got hurt and Dad helped us run away. Then you showed up!” Iris was practically bouncing on her toes.

“I did?” Lucy was dumbfounded.

“Yep! Dad was really scared but you gave him your diary and hugged us and told us you would see us later. And it’s later and here you are!” Then, much like her mother, Iris flung her arms around Lucy.

“Wish I remembered it like that.” Flynn’s voice was so soft that Lucy almost didn’t recognize it.

“Come on,” Lorena said, and when had she stopped arguing with Denise? The Homeland agent was across the room, talking to Wyatt with a stern look on her face. “Lucy, could you hang out with Iris for a little bit? I need to talk to Garcia.”

_Well, you know what that’s code for_ , Lucy thought bitterly, and then felt guilty. Her friend- because he was, Flynn was her friend- had the love of his life back. She should be happy for him.

* * *

Flynn had thought long and hard about what he would do, should this moment ever come to fruition. It was like prodding at the empty spot of a missing tooth: It hurt and often drew blood, but it was hard to stop. Usually, he would lie on whatever flat surface was passing as a bed and hope so hard that when he opened his eyes, whatever scenario he’d envisioned would be real. It never was. Until now.  
As he silently walked Lorena to his room so they could talk in private, he remembered the conversation he had once had with Lucy. About how he would embrace Lorena and Iris and then walk. But now, having seen them both- and oh please don’t let this be just another dream- all he wanted to do was stay for as long as they’d have him.

Surely Lorena would at least attempt to understand the things he had done? He had been so hopeless back then that he couldn’t imagine a world in which she would understand. And yet, the Lorena he had known had always been a forgiving person. She had understood, in a way that few did, the motives behind human behavior. It was one of the things that had first drawn him to her- that intense intellect, paired with a seemingly endless capacity for forgiveness.

By the time the door to his room had closed behind them, Flynn still couldn’t think of a single thing to do. Part of him wanted to grab her into his arms and never let go. Another wanted to fall to his knees before her and beg.

As it turned out, he wasn’t required to make a choice- Lorena made the first move. Flynn was grateful that that part of their relationship had stayed the same, despite it all.

The instant Flynn closed his bedroom door, Lorena flung her backpack to the ground and herself at him.

“I missed you, I missed you, I missed you,” she chanted into his neck.

He tried to respond, to tell her how happy he was that she was alive, that their child was alive, that she was here, but all that came out was a strangled sob. He pulled out of her embrace and just stared at her lovely face.

The last time he had laid eyes on her, there was a bullet hole in her forehead. Shakily, he pressed his lips to that exact spot.

“Oh Cia,” he heard her whisper, and then Lorena pulled back. With quick hands, she whipped her jacket and shirt off before pulling on his.

Complying, he raised his arms, lowering them when she had his t shirt off.

“I am right here.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the cot against the wall. Lorena stretched out, and a gentle tug was all it took for him to follow her. Running a hand through his hair, she guided his head down to her shoulder.

“I need to tell you something,” whispered into the air between them, those words sounded so ominous.

“Hmm?” Lorena’s wordless inquiry was more felt than heard. Flynn could feel his heart preemptively break as she nuzzled into his neck.

“In the course of this… war with Rittenhouse, I’ve-” Flynn broke off, and tried again. “The things that I’ve done. I’m not. Who I used to be. Anymore.” There. It had come out stuttered and broken, but it was out.

In the course of his brief confession, Flynn had closed his eyes. He was waiting for Lorena to ask what he’d done. He wanted the chance to explain but at the same time, dreaded it.

When the waiting had felt like hours, but in reality was barely a minute, Flynn opened his eyes. Lorena had propped herself up on an elbow, and was staring down at him, eyebrow cocked. To this day, it amazed him that she was such an exceptional spy when her face was that expressive.

“Neither am I,” Lorena said and Flynn held very, very still. “After what we went through… no one would be the same. And I don’t care what you did. You killed people? So did I.”

How he loved her for trying to understand but, “Lorena it’s not the same! I wasn’t following orders.” No, he had been giving the orders.

“Okay.” That was Lorena’s I’m-in-charge voice. Her do-what-I-tell-you-and-it-will-be-okay voice. “You don’t remember the night they came for us the same way I do.”

* * *

Even after several years, Lorena could read her husband with ease. He was far more fragile than he had let on, and she feared that if his fears weren’t addressed soon, he would shatter. Time to do some damage control.

After a little while of simply laying together, Lorena had started to get uncomfortable. Her belt buckle was digging in and the heel of one of Garcia’s boots was jammed against her shin. With a groan, she sat up and stripped down to her underwear. Taking off her clothes removed all the pointy metal bits and also-

_“Fuck!”_ Garcia swore, sharp and fast.

-served as a visual reminder to Garcia of how different this reality was.

“Yeah…” Lorena sighed, and sat back down on the bed. The scars on her left leg weren’t that bad, but they had obviously startled Cia, and why wouldn’t they? There had been a time that they had known each other’s bodies better than anything, even if most considered it unconventional. “That night… I got hurt,” she started to explain. “Considering they were in full tactical gear and I was in my pajamas, I think I came out in pretty decent shape.”

Garcia looked up from examining her left thigh with a chiding expression.

“What? I won, I’m allowed to joke about it!” There, that put a faint smile on his face. Lorena continued, soothed by Garcia’s fingers against her skin. “You came in when you heard me screaming and we took on three armed assassins in our daughter’s bedroom. She dove under the bed, told me later that she was scared that we would get hurt.”

“And you did,” Garcia whispered.

Lorena gave him a sad smile and picked up his hand, fiddled with his wedding ring. “Yeah, but it was worth it.” She cleared her throat and went on. “After I got the gun away from the first guy, he managed to stab me in the thigh. I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I was just so damn furious that I yanked the knife out and used it. Got a few solid kicks in, but bare feet and legs against tactical gear… I ended up with some damage to my lower legs. We grabbed what we could and ran, so I didn’t get myself taken care of as soon as should have. The nuns we stayed with in Sao Paolo took care of me, got me medicine for the infection.”

“I was wondering why you were walking different,” Garcia said. “Your legs still ache?”

“A lot less than they used to. You know, I had wanted to be the one to go for the machine?” Lorena told him.

“Why?” He exclaimed.

“I figured everyone- the media, the authorities, they would be kinder to me, than you? I figured I would play the hysterical woman as my cover. I wanted you and Iris to be safe,” Lorena choked out.

Garcia reached out and brushed a tear off her cheek. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

* * *

Lorena and Flynn had taken several hours to themselves in Flynn’s room, and the entire bunker had a good idea as to what they were doing. Lucy had busied herself with getting to know Iris. What had first started as a distraction from her breaking heart had quickly turned to a genuine interest in getting to know the little girl. She was incredibly smart and was curious about everything. By the time the couple had emerged from Flynn’s room- in different clothes, Lucy couldn’t help but note- Iris had decided that Lucy was her new best friend.

“Dad! Did you know that Lucy’s a _doctor_? Isn’t that cool? And Mom, Lucy’s pretended to be a spy, like you!” The girl bounded over to her parents, and Lucy smiled at that endless energy and enthusiasm.

“Oh, so when Lucy talks about spy craft it’s exciting, but when I do, you’re bored?” Despite her words, Lorena was laughing as she teased her daughter. The two women made eye contact, and Lucy found herself grinning as well. There was just something about this woman that was magnetic.

“Lucy got to run around and pretend! You and Dad just listen to other people talk and stuff.” Iris’s face scrunched up and _oh_ that was adorable!

“Okay, come along my young spy, it’s time for lunch, hm?” Flynn guided his daughter down the hall to the kitchen. Lucy stared after them, something akin to longing inside. A faint shuffle, and Lorena appeared next to Lucy.

Nervous about being caught looking at another woman’s husband, Lucy was struggling to think of something to say when Lorena spoke. “I want to thank you.”

Wait. That was not what Lucy was expecting her to say. “For what? I know I gave F-Ga-Flynn my journal, but I don’t remember doing it, I guess it was an older version of me? So you really don’t have to-”

“Lucy!” Lorena cut off her rambling, and Lucy fell silent. “Thank you for that, of _course_ , but thank you for standing by Garcia.”

“Um. You’re... welcome?” What was she supposed to say to that?

Lorena smiled at her again, and Lucy’s eyes drifted to her mouth. So Flynn’s wife was highly intelligent, badass, and gorgeous. Lucy wasn’t sure why she had expected anything less.

* * *

In a little under six hours, Lorena had gotten the bunker’s security measures up to a more reasonable level. Jiya, the youngest of the engineers, was the most open to her suggestions while Mason and Rufus remained weary of her. Lorena had a feeling that Rufus’s concern was for his team, while Mason cringed whenever she got too close to a delicate piece of technology. Nevertheless, she ignored them and set to work ensuring the bunker’s safety. If this was to be her family’s home, no way in _hell_ was she allowing anything to remain lax.

The rest of the bunker’s occupants had more or less scattered, for which Lorena was grateful. It had been a long journey, and she was grateful to know that Iris was relaxing with her father in a quiet room, away from danger.

As Lorena contemplated the best way to hook up a fingerprint scanner to the secondary door, she noticed Jiya scooting closer. Amused, she gave the younger woman a few more minutes, during which the rolling chair inched over to bump her own.

“Yes Jiya?”

“Yeah, hi. Okay so… question for you. Do you remember being dead?” The question was asked in such a chipper, casual way that it took Lorena a moment to recognize the absurdity of it. Not like it was the strangest thing she’d been asked in the past week- after all, her daughter was Iris- but it was in the top five.

“I do not, which is probably a good thing. Can’t imagine being shot in the head is a pleasant way to go. Fast sure, but it probably hurt like a bitch.” Briefly, she was concerned that her blunt answer would’ve put Jiya off, but it didn’t seem to. She simply shrugged in a ‘fair point’ manner and rolled back to her console. Watching her for a moment, Lorena saw that she had the updates well in hand and stood up from her chair. Almost immediately, Rufus’s head popped up.

“Where are you going?” He questioned. Lorena raised an eyebrow. Seriously?

“To check on my child,” she snapped. “Do you have a problem with that?”

A contrite look on his face, he opened his mouth to respond when another voice cut in. “Don’t talk to him like that.”

Ah, right. Wyatt.

Turning around, Lorena made eye contact with the solider. She didn’t need to be the expert she was in reading Wyatt’s body language. Set jaw, wide stance, crossed arms- the aggressive stance was stereotypical in its predictability.

This would be fun.

“Who died and left you in charge?” she snarked and damn it was fun! Having lived with nuns and her young daughter for the past several years hadn’t exactly left Lorena with many outlets for verbal sparring. “Oh yeah, guess that was me. So how about you go run back to Basic leave this war to the grownups. Okay solider boy?” If she hadn’t shaved it off before entering the United States, she would have flipped her hair as she strode away. As it was, Lorena took great pleasure in leaving Wyatt sputtering behind her.

She made her way down the hall to Garcia’s room, and cracked the door. The sight before her almost took her breath away. Garcia was sitting on the cot, long legs stretched out on the thin mattress, Iris’s head propped on her leg. The girl appeared to be dozing as her father finger-combed her hair. From the way Cia’s head was bowed, he didn’t seem far behind. In the far corner of the room, Lucy was curled up in the arm chair with a book. When she saw Lorena, she paused mid-sentence.

“Oh! Sorry, Flynn said Iris wanted to hear about…” Lucy trailed off and interrupted herself. “You know what, I’m gonna go. I’m sure you’d like some privacy with your family.”

Lucy made to stand, and Lorena was quick to intercept her, shutting the door on her way. “Hey, don’t go. We want you here.” She cast a glance over to Iris and Cia. “They really want you here.”

“Iris hardly knows me, and I mean Flynn and I have been working together but that’s still not the same as him having you here.” Lucy’s eyes widened in shock and she started to ramble. “I’m not saying I was taking your place! Not at all! I just was there for him as a friend- not that I don’t want to be his friend anymore. Or yours!” When Lucy looked near tears, Lorena decided it was time to intervene.

“Hey, hey,” she reached out and took Lucy’s hands in her own, “I’m not accusing you of anything. Garcia has more than enough room in his heart for the both of us. I’d really like to get to know you better, Lucy.” Lorena heard a rustle and turned around to see that Garcia had finally fallen asleep. For a few minutes, she and Lucy just stood there and watched the two Flynns peacefully sleeping. “I’ve found it better to just be blunt and get to the point, so I’ll come right out and say it. Lucy, I want you to be a part of my family. Your biological family is shit. You deserve to be loved and respected and taken care of.”

_Damn_ , was that too much? Lorena bit her lip as Lucy closed her eyes and bowed her head. The other woman took a shaky breath, and looked up through tear filled eyes. “I’d like that.”


End file.
